Health News

Promiscuity Frowned Upon By College Students

Date: Aug-20-2012
According to a new study presented at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, around 50% of all male and female college students display a negative attitude towards their male and female peers with a similar sexual history to themselves, and judge them as hooking up 'too much'. The study's co-author, Rachel Allison, a doctoral candidate in the University of Illinois at Chicago's Department of Sociology, said: "Men and women are increasingly judging each other on the same level playing field. But, gender equality and sexual liberation are not synonymous...

What Is Essential Tremor?

Date: Aug-20-2012
Essential tremor refers to the uncontrollable shaking or trembling of a person's body, usually the hands and head, but can also affect the jaw, feet, tongue and face, when they are resisting the force of gravity. Some sufferers may have a distinctive shaky voice when talking. Essential tremor is the most common movement disorder and is estimated to affect nearly 10 million people in North America and Western Europe. Experts say that in over half of all essential tremor cases, the condition is inherited...

All Patients Born Between 1945 And 1965 Should Have Hep C Screening, Says CDC

Date: Aug-20-2012
In the U.S., almost 3.9 million people are infected with HCV, a virus that can cause inflammation and permanent liver damage and which is most common in individuals born from 1945 through 1965. Around 50 to 75% of people with HCV are unaware that they are infected, which is a major concern since HCV progresses slowly and the risk of serious complications increases with time...

Kids' Vital Cough Reflex Is Impaired By Secondhand Smoke

Date: Aug-20-2012
According to a study by the Monell Center, sensitivity to cough-eliciting reparatory irritants becomes decreased in healthy kids and adolescents when they are exposed to secondhand smoke. This finding might help explain why kids of smokers have a higher risk of bronchitis, pneumonia and other diseases, as well as why they pick up the habit during adolescent years. Julie Mennella, Ph.D., a developmental biologist at Monell and co-director of the study, said: "Cough protects our lungs from potentially damaging environmental threats, such as chemicals and dust...

New Treatment For Bronchiectasis Shows Promise

Date: Aug-20-2012
According to a study published in The Lancet, scientists have discovered an innovative treatment for non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, a long-term lung disorder which results in breathlessness and persistent coughing. At present, the global prevalence of the disorder, which occurs when airways in the lungs become abnormally widened, remains unknown, but enhanced screening methods indicate that diagnosis of the disease will most likely rise in the future. In the UK, an estimated 1 in every 1,000 adults suffers from non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis...

What Is A Black Eye? What Is A Periorbital Hematoma?

Date: Aug-20-2012
A black eye, also known as a periorbital hematoma or a shiner, refers to bruising of the tissue under the skin around the eye. In the majority of cases the injury was not to the eye itself, but rather to the face. The patient may have been struck on the face by a tennis ball, a fist, a door, etc. It is called a "black eye" because the bluish-dark color of the surrounding tissue's bruising, caused by capillaries (tiny blood vessels) under the skin that have burst and leaked blood under the skin. There is also usually some swelling and pain in the area surrounding the eye...

Tobacco Use Continues To Grow

Date: Aug-20-2012
A new study, published in The Lancet, highlights the alarming patterns of tobacco use even after years of global tobacco control efforts. According to the report, almost 50% of adult men in developing countries still use tobacco products, while women seem to start smoking at younger ages. The researchers reveal that there are still major disparities in the use of tobacco and access to effective policies and treatments to limit its use. Gary Giovino from the University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions in New York who directed the study, said: "Although 1...

Understanding The Link Between Indoor Tanning And Skin Cancer

Date: Aug-20-2012
In the United States, more than 3.5 million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in more than 2 million people each year. Melanoma, which is the most common form of cancer for individuals aged 25-29 years; and second most prevalent cancer in those aged 15-29 years, is the most lethal form of skin cancer and figures show that the incidence rates of melanoma have been rising for at least three decades. Exposure to ultraviolet light used in tanning beds increases the risk of developing melanoma - particularly in women under 45 years of age...

What Is Body Image?

Date: Aug-20-2012
Your Body Image reflects how you feel your body is esthetically and how attractive you perceive yourself. Throughout history, humans have regarded the beauty of the human body as important. What we regard as society's standards may not always correspond to our perception of our own body. Paul Ferdinand Schilder (1886-1940), an Austrian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, and student of Sigmund Freud, was the first to coin the phrase body image in his book The Image and Appearance of the Human body. Schilder contributed greatly towards including psychoanalytic theory in psychiatry...

What Are Muscles?

Date: Aug-20-2012
Muscle tissue functions mainly as a source of power and motion in the body. Muscles' main responsibility is for changing or maintaining posture, locomotion, and movement of internal organs. The human body has about 650 muscles, which make up approximately half our bodyweight. All muscles are basically made of the same material, a kind of elastic tissue; packages of stretchable fiber-like material, similar to what goes into making a rubber band. Each muscle is made of thousands, and sometimes tens of thousands of small musculus fibers...